


The Afterwards

by thekeyunderthemat



Category: Astrid et Raphaëlle (TV)
Genre: Astrid et Raphaëlle - Freeform, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekeyunderthemat/pseuds/thekeyunderthemat
Summary: Just a little wondering of what may have happened, set after Raphaëlle finds Astrid with Acega.
Relationships: Astrid Nielsen/Raphaëlle Coste
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	The Afterwards

"Astrid, you are okay."

Raphaëlle repeats that phrase like a mantra. Astrid is on the floor, balancing herself back and forth, tears streaking her face, her hands over her ears and around them there's total mayhem. 

She sped all the way up to the warehouse and just left the car on the curve to get to the blonde as soon as possible. She saved her, but now her kidnapper lays dead a few feet from them, bleeding to the ground.

Nico and Arthur followed her closely and they must have heard the shot, because they came in noisily with backup and their sirens on.

The brunette stands her ground, shielding her friend as much as she can from everything around her.

"Raph, are you okay?" Nico asks behind her. She doesn't look back, but she nods. "Is she okay? Does she need medical attention?" 

She shakes her head after searching every inch of Astrid's body she can for injuries. "She's fine." She looks back. "Nico, I need to get her out of here."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of all this." He quickly says. He feels a little guilty for dismissing the blonde earlier, because she has become really important for Raphaëlle and although he doesn’t understand it, at least he owes her this.

He turns and stops Doctor Furnier and his people from reaching the dead body. "Please, wait a few minutes. They need some time and he isn't going anywhere." The man respectfully nods and looks away.

Raphaëlle smiles, glad that her friend is handling it and then frowns, wondering how she'll be able to coach Astrid safely out of there.

"Astrid, please, listen to me." She tries, but she really doesn't know if she can hear her or she's just overwhelmed by every sound. "We need to go somewhere quiet, safe. Would you like that?"

"Somewhere quiet." She repeats, still balancing back and forth. "Somewhere safe." 

The brunette forms a little smile. "That's it, Astrid. We have to get to my car and we can leave, okay?"

"Your car." She repeats to herself, looking up and towards the warehouse's exit, blocked by cars and officers.

Raphaëlle sighs. She sees Arthur in between them. "Arthur!" She calls to him instinctively and swears to herself when Astrid flinches and goes back and forth quicker.

Luckily he was able to hear her and approaches them. "Can you please go to my car and retrieve Astrid's backpack? It's in the back seat. Her headphones will be there, it'll help block the noise."

"Of course." Arthur nods and walks quickly outside after just one look at them.

"It's okay, Astrid. It's almost over." Her eyes get caught in the pool of blood next to her, closing in on them and she takes a deep breath. "Can we stand up, Astrid?" She asks her as calm as she can.

There's a few seconds when she doesn't know if the blonde has heard her and for the hundredth time, Raphaëlle really wishes she could just reach out and touch her, protect her in a hug, lead her the hell out of here, keep her safe, but she knows it would be the worst idea. 

Then the blonde moves her feet and slowly stands up.

"Great, that's great, Astrid." She smiles relieved, trying to convey some calm, even though the blonde seems to be looking anywhere but at her.

Arthur appears by her side quietly and hands her the blonde’s backpack. “Barchet just got to the scene. I told him what happened and that you are taking Astrid out of here. He agreed but he wants her testimony and your report tomorrow morning.” Raph nods with a thankful smile. “Take the back exit.” He points to the other side of the warehouse. “It’ll be a longer walk to your car, but you won’t have to go through all of that.”

Raphaëlle squeezes his arm. “Thank you Arthur.” He shakes his head and walks away.

“Astrid, I have your backpack. I think your headphones are in here. It would be a good idea to put them on.”

After a few seconds, Astrid takes her hands from her ears, wincing at the sound of all the people in the crime scene, but reaches out for her backpack with trembling fingers and takes her headphones out, gently closing it again and putting it on her shoulders. She puts her headphones on and Raphaëlle can see her relaxing just a little bit.

“Better?” She asks a little louder, so Astrid can hear her even if it’s muffled by the headphones. When she nods, Raphaëlle sighs and gestures to the back exit. “Let’s get out of here, Astrid.” The blonde grabs the strings of her backpack and starts walking towards the exit she was pointed to, Raphaëlle walking besides her and making sure nothing and nobody disturbs them. 

When the door of her grey Seat car closes behind Astrid, Raphaëlle gives herself a moment of pause. Her legs are trembling and she tries to keep herself grounded with a hand on the roof of the car. 

It was too close for Astrid, he could have killed her and the brunette blames herself. She should have paid more attention to Astrid when she said the pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit perfectly and she definitely should have returned from her trip as soon as the blonde found out about the inconsistency of drug use in the samples. She shouldn’t have left her partner, her friend, working the case alone, no matter what her boss said.

She closes her eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths before walking around the car up and getting in the driver seat. Astrid is already buckled up, her headphones nowhere to be seen, her backpack on her lap and she’s tapping her fingers rhythmically over it. She looks much calmer externally, but her eyes keep fleeting from one thing to another. Raphaëlle leaves her some space and focuses on driving.

“I should go back to the Criminal Documentation building.”

The brunette glances worried at her. “Is there something you need from the office, Astrid? I thought everything was in your backpack.”

“No, I don’t need anything.” She pauses. “There’s two hours left on my shift”

“We can’t go back to the Criminal Documentation building. It’s a crime scene and the technicians are finishing their job.”

“Ah.” She quietly mumbles.

“I’m driving you home.”

“Okay.”

“I thought you might need some peace and quiet and you’d be the most comfortable in your…”

“I said okay, Raphaëlle.”

“I was not finished.” The brunette replies with the familiar sentence, which makes the blonde smile for a second despite everything.

A few minutes later, Raphaëlle stations her car in an empty spot beside Astrid’s apartment. The blonde doesn’t make a move and the brunette just watches her.

“Would you like some tea, Raphaëlle?” She finally prompts.

“Of course.” She answers too quickly, almost admitting out loud how she craves to be close to the blonde right now, and silently follows her out of the car and up to her apartment. 

Astrid occupies herself with the little routine of making them tea and sits to sip it carefully on her sofa, next to Raphaëlle.

“We could play tangram if you like. I have been practicing with Thèo, you know? I have become quite skilled, I could give you a run for your money.”

“Do you want to bet money on the game?” The blonde asks confused.

“It’s a figure of speech. It means I may be able to win.”

“Ah.”

Raphaëlle bites her lip. “Or maybe we could talk about what happened. It could be good to process everything. Tomorrow I have to file our statements for the investigation.”

“He came into the Criminal Documentation building with the new results of the drug test. It was negative, he said, and I had made a mistake. I never make a mistake. Because of a mistake this case and the other twelve would not have a solution in which everything falls into place.”

Raphaëlle is at the edge of her seat. “So you told him about the other cases you found?”

“Yes. And he got mad. Very mad. He grabbed me. I don’t like to be grabbed. I don’t like to be touched by strangers. He had a knife and he told me to save the files away.”

“So you did and that’s how you left me the message.”

“I did. Mr. Guillard came to talk to me and he… he…” Astrid worries her hands, burrowing them into the cuffs of her sweater.

“You’re doing great, Astrid. What happened then? He forced you into the car?”

The blonde brushes a tear from her cheek and continues. “He grabbed me again and made me go into his car.” She starts fidgeting with her hands. “I thought of jumping of the car, but the probability of giving myself a life threatening injury by jumping of a car speeding through the city was really high.” Raphaëlle sips her tea while she really thinks about it: other moving cars, lampposts, mail boxes... “When we got to the warehouse I thought of running, but I calculated there was nowhere I could run to before he caught me.”

“I’m glad I could figure out your message and get to you before anything else happened.” She leans over to her. “I’m so sorry, Astrid. I’m sorry I wasn’t here, I should’ve been here. I should’ve listened when you told me the pieces didn’t fit. I should’ve…”

“Raphaëlle.” She makes her stop again. “Blanchet made you take the days off but even if you had been around, there was a high probability of him getting me alone at the Criminal Documentation building.”

The brunette looks at her fondly. “You don’t have to make me feel better, Astrid.”

“I was not. I was stating facts.” She says with her brutal honesty. “But I’m glad you feel better, Raphaëlle.”

“How can I make you feel better, Astrid? Is there something I can do?”

“He said we were similar. We are different from other people.” She says after a while and before the brunette can negate it, she continues. “But I told him I wasn’t alone.”

“You are not.” The brunette intervenes, angry at the comparison. “Of course you are not. You have friends. William, Max… You have me.”

The blonde smiles a little bit. “I thought about what you would do, if you were in my position.” She gives a little laugh. “You probably would have swore and then bought some time, talked to him until the police found you.”

“That’s what you did, right? Minus the swearing words.” Raphaëlle completes in awe, turning in her seat to watch her and leaning to the back of the sofa.

“I did.” Her fingers spam and the brunette waits her out. “What is going to happen to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Guillard. He was my guardian.”

Raphaëlle leans in, but stops herself. “May I?” She points to her hand and finally Astrid makes an imperceptible nod. The brunette gently picks up her hand and releases the tension in the blonde’s fist, lacing their fingers together. She can feel the tension in Astrid’s body, but after a few seconds she seems to relax.

“You are a capable adult. You have a job, you have an organized home. You have a routine. You have people supporting you. You don’t need a guardian anymore.”

“I am capable.” Astrid repeats softly, looking to the void.

It does worry Raphaëlle what goes through Astrid’s head sometimes, how she deals with the grief and all her emotions, but they'll figure it out. 

She puts some pressure on the blonde’s hair and Astrid looks at her. “You are. You are going to be okay, I promise.”


End file.
